Atlanta United 2 Gets Past FC Tulsa
September 3, 2022 – United Soccer League Championship (USL) – FC Tulsa News Release
TULSA – The roles were reversed on a difficult night to stomach in Georgia for FC Tulsa fans. Tulsa has been the side that has typically scored late in matches this season, but an 89′ minute goal from Atlanta United 2 proved the difference maker in Saturday’s 2-1 affair as FC Tulsa dropped all three points.
The first half was far from the best 45 minutes of FC Tulsa’s season. The defense kept Atlanta off the board in the first half but looked shaky at times as the backline searched for its footing across the four-man line. Atlanta posted a 0.87 xG in the first half compared to Tulsa’s 0.20 xG, but the ultimate goal of the Tulsa defense was achieved – holding the home side scoreless.
The attack for Tulsa looked out of sorts in the first half. Despite outshooting Atlanta 8-7 and leading in final third entries 33-25, the club failed to manufacture many good scoring chances. Marcus Epps shined for Tulsa down the right wing, serving in beautiful balls time and time again to his teammates, but only one shot was managed by his side from inside the box before the break.
FC Tulsa showed a bit more urgency to open up the second half of the match, controlling more of the ball and preventing Atlanta from using its speed. The best scoring chances for the club came one minute apart in the 57′ and 58′ minutes. Lebo Moloto initially rainbowed a ball into the box for Eric Bird to chase that resulted in a corner, and the subsequent set piece nearly yielded a score from Darío Suárez, but the shot was put wide.
However, Atlanta took advantage of its next opportunity in the 64′ minute and took the lead in the process. The home side earned a free kick and the initial ball was not cleared effectively. The ball rolled to Jackson Conway, Atlanta’s leading scorer, and he put his side up 1-0.
Donovan Ricketts immediately responded to the goal with a flurry of substitutions, one of which saw Noah Powder enter play. Powder made his presence felt immediately in the 69′ minute as the wing-back patiently waited atop the box and found Suárez cut through the cluster of bodies in the center of the pitch. Powder bent in a perfect ball and Super Darío defied gravity, taking flight like his nickname’s sake and greeting Powder’s service with his head, rocketing the equalizer into the back of the net. The goal extended Suárez’s streak to three consecutive matches with a goal and increased his total to six on the year.
Suárez’s goal energized his squad as FC Tulsa began a barrage of offense for the final 20 minutes of the match. Tulsa was relentless but failed to convert two separate one-on-one chances in front of goal, and as it is destined in soccer, Atlanta made Tulsa pay for its missed chances as Conway scored his second of the match in the 89′ minute to seal the 2-1 victory for the home side.
DONOVAN RICKETTS – INTERIM HEAD COACH
(On the slow first half and how they overcame that in the second half)”The first half, the game was too open for our liking. With a young team, they are going to want to be going back and forth. We didn’t keep possession of the ball the way we wanted, so the game was a little bit open. At moments, it seemed like we were second best at most things. That was our problem in the first half.”
(On dominating the last 20 minutes and what went through his mind when making substitutions) “They did a great job through 60-65 minutes, and we wanted fresh legs to give us a different look and create more problems up top. The guys that came [into the game] really did that. I think we probably did enough to win the game – we created a lot of chances, we just didn’t finish them. In football, you get punched if you don’t finish your chances and that’s what happened tonight. We got punched, and now we just can’t give up. We have another game on Wednesday, so we have to pick ourselves up and be ready.”
(On Detroit drawing at Indy and what they need to do to come back on Wednesday)”We have to look at the overall game. We will look at how we did and have confidence going into the Louisville game because we know it will be very tough. We will be at home – and when we’re at home, we are a hard team to beat. Come Wednesday, we will dust ourselves off and look at what we did wrong here tonight, what we can improve on, and then go again on Wednesday.”
ERIC BIRD – MIDFIELDER
(On what the team needs to do to keep pushing for a playoff spot)”We need to win. There is no margin for error. The last six games are finals.”
JOHNNY FENWICK – DEFENDER
(On what the team needs to do back at home on Wednesday to rebound from tonight)”That was a tough loss, but we can’t let our heads drop. We have to regroup and go again. It’s going to be really difficult, but we still believe we have a chance of making the playoffs.”
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